Wasps and the Love of God

I know there's going to be many who don't like me for saying this, but truth is: I'm ready for a good, hard freeze.

It could have something to do with the fact that I have tomatoes coming out of my fingernails and toenails, and if it freezes, well, I guess we'll just have to be satisfied with the 30+ pints of salsa and 10+ pints of pizza sauce already made. It could have something to do with the near 100 degree heat last Friday and me feeling tired of feeling hot. Mostly, though, it has to do with bees and wasps and flies: it can freeze so they all die. (Harsh, I know.) But  one of my biggest summertime nightmares as a momma came true on Sunday: Ezekiel was stung by a wasp. Right on his temple.

Poor little guy.

I'm grateful that since it happened, it happened at a time when Jordan was home. While Zeke cried in pain and I cried because my baby was in pain, Jordan was the logical, level-headed one. And thankfully, nothing more happened to Zeke: no allergic reaction and within fifteen minutes he had stopped crying and began playing with his trucks like nothing had even happened.

All the while, I kept wishing that the stupid wasp had stung me instead. I would have gladly taken away that pain from my little sixteen-month old.

And then I started thinking about God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the pain bestowed upon Him on my behalf. 

God the Father allowed His Son to be beaten. To be humiliated. To be become sin. To die.

Because He loves me. 

What kind of love is that? 

"'For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.'" - John 3:16, NASB (emphasis mine)

"He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all . . . " - Romans 8:32, NASB (emphasis mine)

"But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons." - Galatians 4:4-5, NASB (emphasis mine)

I'm grateful God loves us the way He does. Not the way I love. Because I would have protected my son. I wouldn't want to see him suffer. Praise God He loved us enough to let His Son suffer in our place so that we have a home with Him.